Greetings!



How would your characters or you players likely react to encountering a group of holy Nuns like the women here in this video? Would they submit to the women's spiritual instruction and discipline?

I wonder what the long-term effects on a local congregation might look like if the local temple had a group of religious women like these in charge of teaching the congregation?

So many possibilities for different adventures with a temple having such devout women as part of their staff.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Didn't the Sumerians, and Babylonians have temple whores?

Quote from: Svenhelgrim on July 03, 2021, 08:30:21 PM
Didn't the Sumerians, and Babylonians have temple whores?

Greetings!

Yes, Svenhelgrim, the Sumerians and Babylonians did have temple whores! *Laughing*

This video also reminded me of an episode in history where there was a monastery--a Convent--of Nuns that were investigated and found guilty of debauchery, witchcraft, and I think corrupting the young, as well. I think the church hierarchy had the corrupt nuns all burned at the stake.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

There is a really cool book by Arturo Perez-Reverte called "Purity of Blood".  Set in Spain in the early 1600's, the main character, an out of work soldier named Alatriste, is hired by some nobles to rescue their sister from a convent, where she, and many other young and good-looking women are forced into sexual slavery. 

It is a great story and would make for a thrilling adventure.  The fail-state would be getting captured by the inquisition, which happens to one of the characters when the rescue goes south.

Highly recommend.

I cast charm person.  Want some candy, little girl?

Quote from: Jam The MF on July 05, 2021, 10:06:27 PM
I cast charm person.  Want some candy, little girl?

Greetings!

*Laughing* Yeah, in viewing the video, I learned in the credits that all six of the women portraying these sweet Nuns are Italian actresses. Damn, all that good Italian food they eat over there! Makes me think a lot more American women should ditch the nasty fast food they love stuffing themselves with, and embrace the food program these Italian girls have!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

The "Catholic sex nuns" meme probably predates Boccaccio's The Decameron.

In the Stormbringer RPG (the 3rd & best edition), you could summon demons of desire as sex slaves and servants...if you thought fucking a demon was a good idea.

As for using "sex + religion" in RPGs, (a) everything depends on your table and only you know your table, and (b) it should make sense for the temple, aka you could have sexy dancers for a God of Music who aren't whores, maybe even virgins, or the "temple nuns" of a God of Fertility would be constantly pregnant, or the God of War might buy or groom sex slaves to dole out as rewards for outstandng acts of bravery, (c) but regardless, always go back to point (a). 

I mean, not good things? Sing about demons being anyone's best friend and the demons themselves are going to set your temple on fire for slandering their good (read: evil) name before the paladins have even summoned their mounts.

And really, it's been discussed before, but D&D worlds default to interventionist deities, who presumably can and do settle doctrinal disputes by speaking ex cathedra and confirming that the current, annotated 16th edition of their holy book, with the appendix chapters detailing their current uneasy truce with the God of Madness and Wine, are the nice and correct sacred texts, and anyone saying "The Great and Holy Genericus wishes for us to spread His blessings with our pillowy bosoms!" is at best badly mistaken and in need of actual, non-sexy religious correction and instruction themselves, or, far more likely, are simply using the aesthetic of Genericus to spread what they wanted to do anyway, and have a strong possibility of actually attempting to subvert the worship of our holy Genericus.

Plus, I think it's kind of assumed that after the first time the party runs out into the middle of the open ambush chamber in the goblin warren to seize the shiny things the goblins left as bait, they learn, on a deep level, not to grasp for the shiny pretty thing with both hands as soon as you see it, but instead ask yourself who benefits from this particular shiny thing (or, I suppose, six pair of shiny things) being on display, and what that could mean for you if you throw caution to the wind and grasp the shinies firmly without being aware of your surroundings and the situation.  So, professional adventurers would presumably react to the above musical nuns with about the same degree of eagerness as they would be to, upon sneaking into a dragon's lair, finding a giant pile of gold, a few suspicious bone fragments, an ominous hum of magic, and a large sign declaring "Free Treasure! Take as much as you want!"

That being said, an actual Powerwolf campaign, where the PCs are all divine agents who are also lycanthropes and embody the struggle between the striving for distant, ethereal perfection and the real, raw, red-blooded here and now as they bounce between the two extremes sounds like a pretty rad campaign itself, even without sex nuns.

Quote from: SHARK on July 03, 2021, 07:20:26 PMHow would your characters or you players likely react to encountering a group of holy Nuns like the women here in this video?

Run.

QuoteWould they submit to the women's spiritual instruction and discipline?

None.

QuoteI wonder what the long-term effects on a local congregation might look like if the local temple had a group of religious women like these in charge of teaching the congregation?

Done.

QuoteSo many possibilities for different adventures with a temple having such devout women as part of their staff.

(Not) Fun.

--S. "in case nobody knew this, I'm a practicing Catholic" Tannhauser

Fireball is a cure for many sicknesses in the world. Just saying.

Quote from: SHARK on July 05, 2021, 09:17:15 PM

Quote from: Svenhelgrim on July 03, 2021, 08:30:21 PM
Didn't the Sumerians, and Babylonians have temple whores?

Greetings!

Yes, Svenhelgrim, the Sumerians and Babylonians did have temple whores! *Laughing*

This video also reminded me of an episode in history where there was a monastery--a Convent--of Nuns that were investigated and found guilty of debauchery, witchcraft, and I think corrupting the young, as well. I think the church hierarchy had the corrupt nuns all burned at the stake.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Temple prostitution was ubiquitous in the ancient world, likely as a means of regulating prostitution.

Quote from: SHARK on July 03, 2021, 07:20:26 PM
How would your characters or you players likely react to encountering a group of holy Nuns like the women here in this video? Would they submit to the women's spiritual instruction and discipline?

They're there for the tactical combat simulation, fantasy powers, and manipulative scheming with/against NPCs.

Tits and ass and sex are not something they (I) want some middle aged dude talking to/with/at them (me) about. 

Having said all that...

Quote from: SHARK on July 03, 2021, 07:20:26 PM
I wonder what the long-term effects on a local congregation might look like if the local temple had a group of religious women like these in charge of teaching the congregation?

... there is a place in some settings and games, where sex as powerful religious force could and would make sense.  I'm sure it's part of someone's fappy Exalted game (not to be confused with Exalted games that aren't "welcome to my magical kingdom" experiences).

Quote from: SHARK on July 03, 2021, 07:20:26 PM
So many possibilities for different adventures with a temple having such devout women as part of their staff.

Sorry bud.  I save that kind of roleplaying for away from the table. 

Quote from: Stephen Tannhauser on July 06, 2021, 01:42:01 AM
--S. "in case nobody knew this, I'm a practicing Catholic" Tannhauser

I'm in the same boat. It's rather sad actually that all the people decrying the loss of culture don't see how mocking and subverting the primary pillar of Western civilization just provides aid and comfort to their proclaimed enemies (and that most of The Church's problems can be linked to post-Vatican II initiatives to secularize and modernize it).

To the topic at hand and how such a group would be handled in my setting; the local church of the Christian analogue religion would call a crusade and have the entire blasphemous edifice torn down stone by stone and its demon priests put to the sword, an inquisition would be held to determine who was a willing follower (also put to the sword if they refuse to repent), who was deceived into servitude (repentance or exile) and who was outright enslaved (given support and healing) and, finally, numerous rites of exorcism would be performed to free the site and any of those sufferers from lingering influence from demonic corruption.

Demons aren't misunderstood or sexy in my setting; they are irredeemable evil spirits that seek to drag as many people as possible into the Abyss out of sheer spite for The Source (my God analogue).

Keep in mind that 'your demons may not be my demons'.

That being said, nothing pisses off any religion quite like apostasy and unorthodox deviation from scriptures.

Quote from: Chris24601 on July 06, 2021, 10:12:04 AMIt's rather sad actually that all the people decrying the loss of culture don't see how mocking and subverting the primary pillar of Western civilization just provides aid and comfort to their proclaimed enemies (and that most of The Church's problems can be linked to post-Vatican II initiatives to secularize and modernize it).

Agreed. The sexy nun gag itself I just find kind of old and tired at this point, which is why I'm not particularly outraged at one more "edgy" video exploiting it.

QuoteTo the topic at hand and how such a group would be handled in my setting; the local church of the Christian analogue religion would call a crusade and have the entire blasphemous edifice torn down stone by stone and its demon priests put to the sword, an inquisition would be held to determine who was a willing follower (also put to the sword if they refuse to repent), who was deceived into servitude (repentance or exile) and who was outright enslaved (given support and healing) and, finally, numerous rites of exorcism would be performed to free the site and any of those sufferers from lingering influence from demonic corruption.

Demons aren't misunderstood or sexy in my setting; they are irredeemable evil spirits that seek to drag as many people as possible into the Abyss out of sheer spite for The Source (my God analogue).

I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter. 

To try to come up with a more detailed answer: In one fantasy setting I've been working on for many years, one of the primary conflicts is between two genuinely benevolent (as each of them sees themselves) pantheons who nonetheless differ markedly in theology: one is called the Wardenfaith (after the elemental-themed shapers of the world) and one is called the Church of Ascension (a Christian-/Catholic Church analogue).  The Wardenfaith has some offshoots in the form of the Shadow Cults, one of which is the Cult of the Red Moon, a heretical sect devoted to the moon goddess Mara (also the goddess of love, beauty and passion) but concentrating primarily on a decadent and orgiastic understanding of those things -- they would be the closest religious sect in existence who would have clergy that do the sorts of things in the video.

While the official clergy of the Wardenfaith frown on the Shadow Cults, they have never gone to the effort of active extermination, partly because the cults do seem to manifest some theurgical power from time to time (some theologians speculate that this is because the Cults do address real but socially unappealing aspects of the Wardens' responsibilities). Because the Church of Ascension formally recognizes the reality and separate dominion of the Wardens, they can't pull the same inquisition-like tactics, but they tend to do everything they can short of that, including active campaigns of recruitment and disenfranchisement.  (Part of the reason it's so difficult to get rid of the Red Moon in particular is that, following the collapse of the advanced magical Rome-analog imperium a thousand years ago, "moondraught" birth control elixirs have become very rare and expensive, and the Red Moon is one of the only sources for even a partly-effective cheap version of them.)

If, however, the local Wardenfaith High Priest is presented with evidence that a particular Cult cell has become involved with demons or evil spirits (this happens most often with the Silencers, an assassin cult who supposedly venerate Annuresh, the goddess of death, but in practice completely usurp Her responsibility for taking souls when She chooses), both faiths are more than willing to join forces and go full-bore annihilation on the Cultists. As in your universe, real demons are utterly hostile and dangerous forces that every faith in existence will unite against.